21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Of the four gospels, Saint Matthew is the only to state, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Not only is this stated to Saint Peter, but only two chapters later it is stated again to the apostles as a collective whole.

What differs between these two exchanges is what was said to Peter alone, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” These keys are a reference to Isaiah, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

For the ancient kingdom of Judah, the royal steward, was the highest ranking official in the royal court, second in authority to only the king himself. It was he who managed the day to day administration of the kingdom and spoke and acted with full weight of the king’s authority. Jesus is the ultimate king of Israel who prior to ascending into heaven appoints Peter to manage His royal household, the Church, on earth.

When Shebna was removed from his office as steward the key was handed down to Eliakim because the office outlives the man who holds the key. Similarly, the papacy is not a temporary gift to Peter, but is a perpetual office passed down through apostolic succession to every Bishop of Rome which would include our current pope, Leo.

The pope is the guardian and not the author of the faith. It is his primary job to safeguard, defend, and pass down the Deposit of Faith. This being the divine revelation handed down from Christ and the Apostles through Scripture and Sacred Tradition. From the throne of Saint Peter he speaks infallibly (speaking as such is rare), but outside such a statement he can be wrong, misinformed, or make a poor decision.

The pope does not work in isolation in protecting the Deposit of Faith for he works in union with the College of Bishops. Together with the pope as its head, the College of Bishops possesses supreme and full power over the universal Church. We see such authority expressed through ecumenical councils and the universal magisterium. Cum et Sub Petro (With and Under Peter).

Therefore, the Deposit of Faith is not subject to modern political trends, culture wars, or the personal whims of an individual leader. It is the steward’s job to keep the house running on the King’s rules thus providing a stable foundation so that our faith stays rooted in Christ.

We cannot allow our own personal preferences to lead us astray from the unity of faith. Obedience is always the answer (even if difficult) for through obedience we place our trust in Christ and not the trends of the world which bring forth division. Let us always pray for our Holy Father (Leo), our Bishop (Mark), and the preservation of the unity of faith by all the people of God.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily (Parish Picnic)

This Saturday we gather for our parish picnic. This Saturday also happens to be the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Mary’s Queenship is defined by her maternal care and advocacy, not earthly domination. Her presence at the heart of the parish encourages a culture of mutual support, hospitality, and fidelity to the faith.

Such fidelity is signified by the keys which were presented to Saint Peter in our gospel. These keys signify order, continuity, and unity. The stewardship of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church exists to keep the flock together as one. At a time when division is common in our wider culture, celebrating a shared faith under one shepherd highlights the parish as a sanctuary of peace and oneness.

As we celebrate these sacred mysteries we enter into the depths of such unity. The Church embraces us where we have grown weary and reorients us towards the mercy that Christ alone brings. We are not a church community fragmented in thought, but one body brought togehter when we behold our Lord present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

As we depart from this sacred space let us take what we receive here with us out into the world in order that it may be lived. We must continue to work together as one instead of allowing division to enter into our community. Such oneness is expressed through mutual support of one another, a spirit of hospitality, and fidelity to the faith in its fullness.

Mary Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

20th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

At the Easter Vigil Mass begins in complete darkness until a fire is struck and the Paschal Candle representing the Risen Lord is processed into the church dispelling darkness from its midst. Once the candle reaches the sanctuary the Exsultet (The Easter Proclamation) is chanted recounting the history of salvation, culminating in the declaration of Adam’s happy fault.

“O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed, completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!” This does not mean that Adam’s sin was morally good; it means that God’s response to sin (sending Jesus Christ) resulted in a higher state of grace and union with God than humanity possessed even before the Fall.

The Exsultet calls Adam’s sin “happy” not because sin is good, but because of what God did in response to it. As Saint Thomas Aquinas stated in the Summa, “God allows evils to happen in order to bring a greater good therefrom; hence it is written: ‘Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

From Romans we heard pertaining to such disobedience that brought forth an outpouring of God’s mercy. The remedy that God provides due to such disobedience elevates humanity to a higher state than if Adam had never fallen. Redeemed people become partakers of the divine nature, an intimacy with God far exceeding even original innocence in the Garden.

Disobedience remains evil and bad in itself. However, through the lens of such a happy fault, human sin is not a defeat for God, but the ability to pour forth Redemptive Mercy upon us and upon the whole world. Through our human weakness we are able to make room for His mercy, which transforms our spiritual life.

O Happy fault reminds us that failure never has the final word. Despite however many times we fall into sin and repeat a persistent weakness it is easy to have shame and despair instead of making room for the virtue of hope. Instead of running away from God we must remember our total reliance on Him.

The Canaanite woman in our Gospel exemplified such an attitude where she turned to Him in total reliance and thus received an outpouring of His mercy. She does not come demanding healing as something already owed unto her, but in her lowliness she acknowledged her complete dependence upon God’s grace and thus she was told “O woman, great is your faith!”

Let us have such Christian faith modeled after this woman. We must stop giving into despair over our many mistakes, temptations, and sins. Instead let us entrust ourself to His mercy and grace especially that mercy and grace that awaits us in the sacrament of confession. Indeed, there is hope for us, brought forth from that “happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!”

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary Homily

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Pope Pius XII stated that this event was a “manifestation of the hope” of all humanity. In the Creed we profess such a hope, “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Therefore, we cannot forget that Christ’s redemption redeems the whole human person, body and soul.

As Saint Paul states in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep… But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” 

Mary is the first among “those who belong to Christ” to receive that ultimate promise. She was united to Christ fully (after all she was declared to be “full of grace”), bearing Him in her body and standing by Him at the cross. Her glorified body in heaven serves as a preview of the bodily resurrection that has been promised to every believer at the end of time.

What has already happened to Mary is what the Church as a collective body hopes to experience when Christ restores creation. She has reached the destination toward which every pilgrim Christian is currently walking. May she pray for us that we may seriously come to pursue such a life that leads us towards such Heavenly glory.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

19th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Our reading from 1st Kings picks up with Elijah hiding in a cave on Mount Horeb. Prior to this moment he had a lived a life that had experienced great miracles. Fire was just called down from heaven on Mount Carmel to defeat the prophets of Baal. Yet when threatened by Queen Jezebel he panicked, lost faith, and fled into the wilderness.

Despite all the big stuff that Elijah had experienced his heart had not yet been permanently transformed to have complete faith in God. The imagery of wind, earthquake, and fire represent to us the big, external, noisy, and emotional events of life. If our faith depends upon constant emotional heights or dramatic signs we will always be left wanting more.

Saint John of the Cross uses the term “spiritual gluttony” to describe what happens when we look for God primarily in big, emotional, or miraculous events. He observed that beginners in the spiritual life often become addicted to feeling good during prayer and seeking out intense emotional highs. He argued that when hunt for such sensations we are seeking ourselves, not God.

Elijah came to hear God’s voice not in a massive event, but through a small voice. God does not force Himself on us through overwhelming force. Rather, He speaks to us in the interior quiet of the soul. In order to hear a whisper you have to learn to be quiet and enter into interior silence. Through interior silence we recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit in our life.

The Eucharist serves as the perfect example of such a reality. The Lord does not come upon the altar with thunder and lighting, but through silence. Those who look upon the Eucharist do not see some massive sensation for they look upon bread and wine. Through faith we are able to acknowledge that what we look upon is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

As people of faith we do not need new private revelations or spectacular signs in order to be saved or know of God’s love for us. The fullness of truth has already been handed down to us through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Sacraments. We do not need a dramatic spiritual experience in order to be a person of faith because all we have to focus on is the ordinary.

Elijah didn’t need another display of lightning; he needed rest. He needed to eat the bread that the angel gave him and to listen to that voice that told him to get back to his ordinary mission. This relates well to Saint Peter who was able to walk on water in so far as he kept his sight on Jesus. The moment he shifted his attention to the wind and waves he sunk. It is easy for us to shift our sight to such signs and also take our sight off of Jesus.

As people of faith let us stop chasing after the storm (however it may manifest itself in our life) and instead come to abide in the quiet, sufficient grace that He has already given to each of us. Through such assistance from God we can go back to our ordinary life and do in the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, “ordinary things with extraordinary love.”